Systems and methods for viewing data generated by rotational scanning in non-destructive testing

ABSTRACT

The present application relates to a non-destructive testing system. The non-destructive testing system may include an ultrasonic probe and a hand-held display in communication with the ultrasonic probe. The hand-held display may be configured to display C-scan images or S-scan images.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation and benefit of priority is claimedfrom U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/628,066, filed on Sep. 27,2012, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to ultrasonic probes used fornon-destructive testing and more particularly relates to systems andmethods for viewing data generated by rotational scanning innon-destructive testing with reduced storage and computationalrequirements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Non-destructive testing such as ultrasonic testing and the like may beused to inspect various types of materials and components. Specifically,ultrasonic testing is a suitable method for finding internal anomaliesand/or certain types of material characteristics in most types of soundconducting materials. Such sound conducting materials include mostmetals and other types of substantially rigid materials. Generallydescribed, an ultrasonic probe detects anomalies or othercharacteristics upon changes in the reflection of sound waves on aboundary surface of the component or the anomaly. Ultrasonic testing hasthe advantage of detecting such internal characteristics with agenerally high degree of accuracy.

Data generated by ultrasonic testing may be presented in a number ofdifferent formats. For example, the scan data may be presented as anA-scan (energy received as a function of time), a B-scan(cross-sectional view), a C-scan (plan view), an S-scan (sectionalview), and the like. A one-dimensional or two-dimensional ultrasonicprobe may generate the scans. A number of the individual scans may becombined so as to generate three-dimensional views.

As opposed to similar types of ultrasonic devices used in the healthcarefield, non-destructive testing tools used in, for example, the oil andgas industry and the like, may be relatively small, handheld, andbattery driven. Moreover, such non-destructive testing tools generallyneed to last in the field for at least a complete shift (about 8 hoursor more) without recharging. Generating three-dimensional views,however, requires significant memory and computational power.

There is, thus, a desire for improved systems and methods ofnon-destructive testing such as ultrasonic testing and the like. Suchimproved systems and methods may present ultrasonic and other types ofnon-destructive testing data in a useful and efficient fashion whilerequiring less computational resources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to a non-destructive testing system. Thenon-destructive testing system may include an ultrasonic probe and ahand-held display in communication with the ultrasonic probe. Thehand-held display may be configured to display C-scan images orcorresponding S-scan images.

The present application further describes a method of viewingnon-destructive test data. The method may include the steps ofmaneuvering an ultrasonic probe about a work piece, ultrasonicallyscanning the work piece, displaying a number of C-scan images, selectingone of the of C-scan images, and displaying a S-scan image correspondingto the selected C-scan image.

The present application further describes a non-destructive testingsystem. The non-destructive testing system may include a two-dimensionalarray ultrasonic probe and a hand-held display in communication with theultrasonic probe. The hand-held display may be configured to display anumber of C-scan images in a radar-like view or a corresponding S-scanimage.

The present application further describes a non-destructive testingsystem for testing a work piece. The non-destructive testing system mayinclude an ultrasonic probe including a matrix of transducers arrangedas a two-dimensional array. The non-destructive testing system mayinclude a hand-held control unit including a display, the hand-heldcontrol unit being configured to control the ultrasonic probe. Theultrasonic probe and the control unit may be configured to obtain C-scanimages and corresponding S-scan images, the C-scan images and thecorresponding S-scan images being of the same portion of the work piecebeing tested, and the hand-held control unit being configured toselectively present C-scan images or corresponding S-scan images uponthe display.

These and other features and improvements of the present applicationwill become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon review ofthe following detailed description when taken in conjunction with theseveral drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a known non-destructive testing systemwith an ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a non-destructive testing system withan ultrasonic probe as may be described herein.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the ultrasonic probe of the non-destructivetesting system of FIG. 2 positioned within a work piece.

FIG. 4 is an example of a C-scan image produced by the non-destructivetesting system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an example of a number of S-scan images produced by thenon-destructive testing system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an alternative embodiment of anon-destructive testing system with an ultrasonic probe as may bedescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like elementsthroughout the several views, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of anon-destructive testing system 10. The non-destructive testing system 10includes an ultrasonic probe 15. Generally described, the ultrasonicprobe 15 may be of conventional design and includes one or more arraysof transducers, a transmit beamformer, and a receive beamformer. Theultrasonic transducers may be arranged as a phase array. The transmitbeamformer supplies electrical signals to the transducer arrays and thetransducer arrays produce ultrasonic signals. The structure facing thetransducer arrays scatters the ultrasonic energy back to the transducerarrays so as to generate received electric signals. Many different typesof array processing techniques may be used for processing the receivedsignals. The ultrasonic probe 15 is in communication with a control unit20. The control unit 20 may include a display 25. Many different typesof control units 20 and display 25 may be used.

The non-destructive testing system 10 typically may be used to test awork piece 30. The work piece 30 may have one or more anomalies 35therein. The ultrasonic probe 15 may be configured to produce a numberof S-scans 40 (sectional scans). In the S-scans 40, a first axis mayrepresent the distance from an insonification location or a depth in thework piece 30 and a second axis may represent an azimuth or aninsonification angle. Other types of scans such as a C-scan (plan view)and the like also may be generated and displayed on the display 25. Anumber of the S-scans 40 may be combined so as to produce a largelythree-dimensional image. As described above, however, displaying suchthree-dimensional data may be complicated and may require significantamounts of memory and computational power.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a non-destructive testing system 100 asis described herein. Similar to that described above, thenon-destructive testing system 100 includes an ultrasonic probe 110. Theultrasonic probe 110 may be of conventional design. The ultrasound probe110 may be in communication with a control unit 120 and a display 130.In this example, the control unit 120 may be a handheld device 140. Thehandheld device 140 may be any type of portable equipment. The handhelddevice 140 also may be battery operated. The ultrasonic probe 110 may bea phased array device 150. Other components and other configurations maybe used herein.

The ultrasonic probe 110 may be configured as a translational device160. Specifically, the ultrasonic probe 110 may include a matrix oftransducers arranged as a two-dimensional probe. The probe 110 thus mayhave discrete element separation in two directions such that a soundbeam 170 may be controlled in a three-dimensional volume. Specifically,the beam 170 is rotated about a middle axis, perpendicular to ahorizontal plane. The ultrasonic probe 110 thus may rotate the beam 170about 360 degrees. Resolution in terms of data capture may be at eachone degree step for a 360 degree scan or at any desired resolution. Theresolution also may be varied for a particular type of applicationand/or type of work piece 30.

FIG. 3 shows the use of the non-destructive testing system 100 withinthe work piece 30 with the anomaly 35. The ultrasonic probe 110 may bepositioned about the work piece 30 in the form of a tube. The ultrasonicprobe 110 thus may rotate the beam 170 with a rotational axis 115through the middle of the probe 110 and so as to produce any number offinely pitched scans. Other components and other configurations also maybe used herein.

The ultrasonic probe 110 may produce a number of different scans. FIGS.4 and 5 show examples of different types of scans produced and displayedby the display 130 of the non-destructive system 100. The ultrasonicprobe 110 may produce both a number of C-scan images for top/down viewsand a number of S-scan images for side view imaging. FIG. 4 shows anumber C-scan images 190 combined with a beam cursor 200 so as toprovide a radar-like view 210.

FIG. 5 shows a number of S-scan images 220. Each S-scan image 220 mayrelate to an angle of interest along the 360 degrees of rotation basedupon a position of the beam cursor 200 in the radar-like view 210 of theC-scan images 190. The user thus may toggle back and forth between theC-Scan images 190 and the associated S-scan images 220. Although a 360degree scan is shown in FIG. 4, any smaller angle may be shown. If so,the resultant image would be similar to a pie slice as opposed to theentire pie shown herein. Other types of scans also may be used andcombined herein.

The use of the C-scan images 190 in the radar-like view 210 requiresonly a two-dimensional display of the scan data. As such, less memoryand computational power may be required as compared to displayingthree-dimensional data. Using the location of the beam cursor 200, onemay switch to the S-scan image 220 for further detail according to theposition of the beam cursor 200. The non-destructive testing system 100described herein thus provides three-dimensional data without requiringthe power and other resources to display such. The ultrasonic testingprobe 110 and the non-destructing testing system 100 described hereinthus may be implemented as the hand held device 140.

FIG. 6 shows a further example of a non-destructive testing system 230as may be described herein. In this example, the ultrasonic probe 110may be physically rotated. Specifically, the ultrasonic probe 110 may beattached to and rotated by a motor 240. The motor 240 may be any type ofdevice capable of producing rotational movement. The rotational positionof the ultrasonic probe 110 may be determined by a position encoder 250and the like. Other types of positioning and drive means may be usedherein. The non-destructive testing system 230 may then produce the scanimages in a manner similar to that described above. Other components andother configurations may be used herein.

It should be apparent that the foregoing relates only to certainembodiments of the present application and the resultant patent.Numerous changes and modifications may be made herein by one of ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the general spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined by the following claims and the equivalentsthereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-destructive testing system for testing a work piece, the non-destructive testing system comprising: an ultrasonic probe including a matrix of transducers arranged as a two-dimensional array; and a hand-held control unit including a display, the hand-held control unit being configured to control the ultrasonic probe; wherein the ultrasonic probe and the control unit being configured to obtain C-scan images and corresponding S-scan images, the C-scan images and the corresponding S-scan images being of the same portion of the work piece being tested, and the hand-held control unit being configured to selectively present C-scan images or corresponding S-scan images upon the display.
 2. The non-destructive testing system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured for testing a work piece from within the work piece.
 3. The non-destructive testing system of claim 2, wherein the hand-held control unit is configured for operation at a location outside of the work piece.
 4. The non-destructive testing system of claim 2, including means for causing the beam to proceed in 360° of directionality within the work piece being tested.
 5. The non-destructive testing system of claim 4, wherein the means for causing the beam to proceed in 360° of directionality within the work piece being tested includes a rotational motor.
 6. The non-destructive testing system of claim 1, wherein the display is configured to present each of the C-scan images in a radar-like view with a beam cursor.
 7. The non-destructive testing system of claim 6, wherein a position of the beam cursor corresponds to a related S-scan image, and the hand-held control unit being configured to permit selection of the related S-scan image for selective presentation upon the display via the beam cursor.
 8. The non-destructive testing system of claim 6, wherein the display is configured such that presentation of the C-scan images in the radar-like view requires only a two-dimensional display of the scan data. 